Normal degeneration of the spine may seem incongruous
when talking about degeneration, but age meets
us all. Age generates degeneration normally. Our
Murfreesboro chiropractic practice acknowledges and
respects age for its influence on the spine and its role
in paraspinal muscle and disc degeneration. They go hand-in-hand. Most Chiropractic Clinic
treats them gently and effectively, especially
when our patients participate fully by keeping appointments, exercising, and following suggestions about
supplements that can be beneficial. It is all part of the
Murfreesboro chiropractic treatment plan!
NORMAL DEGENERATION: Age
Age. Not a topic we enjoy talking about,
but age doesn’t care. It keeps doing its
thing. Age contributed much when researchers
compared the fatty infiltration of muscle in normal people to that
in lumbar spinal stenosis
patients matched for age, BMI, weight, etc. The paraspinal muscle alterations
in lumbar spinal stenosis patients and normal people were similar.
Degeneration of these muscles related to age was more noticeable
in lumbar spinal stenosis patients especially in the
multifidus muscles. (1) In a radiographic study of degenerative lumbar
spinal stenosis patients, age-related risk factors were noted. Researchers
wrote that larger intervertebral disc height and more severe
vertebral endplate failure may trigger degenerative lumbar
spinal stenosis due to the amplified
mobility of the segment, progressing disc
degeneration. Weakened paravertebral muscles may weaken lumbar spinal
stability. (2) Truly, the spine and all its muscles are linked.
Most Chiropractic Clinic pays attention to them all, to their response to
treatment, to their contribution in the pain.
BACK PAIN AND ITS PALS
Low back pain has friends. It brings with
it degeneration, change, fat, imbalance and more. Researchers credited
intervertebral disc degeneration as being the main cause of
chronic low back pain. It is a familiar and recuring
condition in spine surgery fields. Disc degeneration is related to disc inflammation. As we humans age, researchers explained
that its bone marrow changes to bone marrow fat, triggering
an inflammatory response in the disc and paraspinal muscles which play
a role in spine stability. As the muscles fill with fat, low back pain changed
to chronic. (3) In a study of patients with lumbar spinal stenosis and
sciatica/leg pain, researchers noted that lumbar
degenerative diseases prompted paravertebral muscle degeneration
with higher levels of intramuscular fat infiltration. Women’s
paraspinal muscles were significantly smaller. The erector spinae
muscle and multifidus muscle in older aged patients were seen
to have more fat in them. (4) Most Chiropractic Clinic appreciates
that aging contributes to back pain’s
development, path, and treatment.
LESS IS MORE: Treating Aged Back Pain
Since researchers observed that
with age comes fatty infiltration of paraspinal muscles and inflammatory
responses in the disc, it makes sense that doing less if back
surgery is done would be sensible.
A new study wrote that adding fusion
to a decompression back surgery for lumbar spinal stenosis increased
the risk of new stenosis on an MRI two years later at the operated
level or at an adjacent spinal level even when spondylolisthesis (a condition
that one vertebra slipped on another one) was noted at surgery. (5)
Less is more oftentimes when treating back
pain. Gentler treatment can go far in reducing pain. That
is the motto of the CTFDD treatment plan at Most Chiropractic Clinic: gentle
spinal manipulation, gentle exercise, etc.
CONTACT Most Chiropractic Clinic
Listen to this PODCAST
with Dr. Joseph Beissel on The Back Doctors Podcast with
Dr. Michael Johnson as he describes the relief with The
Cox® Technic System of Spinal Pain Management for a patient with chronic low
back pain.
Make your Murfreesboro chiropractic
appointment now. There’s no escaping age or its
accompanying pal, degeneration. If disc degeneration and spinal muscle
degeneration are now your pals, trust Most Chiropractic Clinic to get you all
on a path to healing.